OH MANATEE

Gentle mermaid
of the Nariva,
mysterious denizen
of her streams,
swimming to limbo
without a murmur,
elusive in the daylight
as moonbeams,
oblivious to oblivion’s
impending danger,
enigmatic as the night
and her dreams;
strange creature!
Your life is strange
and man is stranger…
Oh manatee,
you must not die.

Trichechus manatus,
carrying with the ease
of buoyant bubbles
your ponderous pounds
with flippers
that like moriche fronds
or water weeds
seem to wave
and beckon
into your mystic ponds
where some arcane wisdom
of the lands and seas,
like an underwater
Buddha,
you will pronounce
on the importance
of every organism
of every species…
Oh manatee,
you must not die.

Silent sea cow,
mammalian scuba diver,
so curious,
innocent and playful
like a child;
serenely gazing,
while grazing,
Naba-rau,
Water People
living with the
Warrau
in the wild.
There was a blithe era
when the Bois Neuf
marsh water,
teeming
with fish-frolicking
Kuyu-moro,
lay unspoiled;
then came
the treacherous
two-legged predator…
Oh manatee,
you must not die.

He hunted you
almost to extinction
while decimating
your habitat;
will this destruction
forever go on?
or will humanity,
with conscience
and heart,
conserve, reserve,
protect
your population:
I call
on Land People
to do our part
in ensuring
your safety, survival
and propagation…
Oh manatee,
you must not die.

Copyright ©2001 by G. Newton V. Chance